'Comply with the law' – UK Government takes aim at VPNs during Online Safety Act debate

UK Members of Parliament (MPs) called for increased pressure on the best VPNs as they debated a petition calling for the Online Safety Act (OSA) to be repealed.

In the UK, politicians will debate a petition if it receives 100,000 or more signatures. When it closed in October 2025, "Repeal the Online Safety Act" had received 550,137 signatures.

MPs – from multiple political parties – believed further investigation into VPNs was needed. There were calls for VPN providers to introduce age verification, to comply with the Online Safety Act, and to log the websites VPN users visit – a move that would contradict a fundamental aspect of VPN technology.

In addition to this debate, members of the UK's House of Lords have proposed an amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools bill. It suggests VPNs should be age-restricted, and that under-18s should be banned from using the privacy tools.

We have previously asked if the UK Government would ban VPNs. While this is still unlikely, we're seeing mounting pressure and increased attacks on VPNs.

"The use of VPNs has to be examined further"

A cross-party group of MPs debated the "Repeal the Online Safety Act" petition on December 15, 2025.

The UK Government was represented by Minister of State for Digital Government and Data, Ian Murray. Murray reiterated the Labour government's firm refusal to repeal the OSA. He said a review of the legislation would be completed "no sooner than 2029," admitting "these were long timescales."

VPNs were mentioned multiple times throughout the debate. Peter Fortune, Conservative MP for Bromley and Biggin Hill, said "there has been increased downloading of VPNs by children over the last three months," citing research by Childnet. He believed "the use of VPNs has to be examined further."

Childnet surveyed 2,018 children aged 8 to 17, with 432 reporting VPN use. 23% said they started using a VPN in the three months following the OSA. 21% started using VPNs one year ago.

38% of respondents said they used a VPN to protect their privacy and stay safe online. 10% of children (an indicative figure) said they "used VPNs to look at things which they are not supposed to see for their age."

Childnet concluded that the UK's spike in VPN usage wasn't down to children, but didn't entirely rule out the impact the OSA has had on their use of VPNs.

Julia Lopez, Conservative MP for Hornchurch and Upminster, said there were reports of children using VPNs to circumvent age checks, and asked "whether age-gating should be applied more comprehensively." She said loopholes could be closed by implementing age checks on VPNs, app stores, or at a device level.

Jim McMahon, Labour Co-Op MP for Oldham West and Royton, questioned why VPNs were not in the scope of the legislation, to make sure "they are compliant with the age verification measures." McMahon argued that VPNs should "comply with the law."

Members of the UK's House of Lords have also called for age checks on VPNs. A proposed bill amendment said "highly effective" age verification would have to be introduced by VPN companies to block anyone under 18 using a VPN.

McMahon went on to say VPN companies should create a "bridge between the service user and the ultimate website or platform that they are viewing."

While technically possible, this practice would go against everything VPN companies stand for. Reputable VPN providers operate strict no-logs policies and do not log, share, or sell any information relating to user activity and internet traffic. Doing so would render using a VPN near-pointless.

In 2022, the Indian Government enacted a law that requires VPNs operating in the country to monitor user data. When this law was introduced, leading VPN providers withdrew their physical servers from India to protect users. It's possible we could see the same in the UK should legal requirements change.

Ian Murray indicated that "the VPN issue" would be investigated in The Government's OSA review. Inferring from the statements quoted above, we can assume the review won't be completed before 2029. However, we don't know if any measures would be taken before then, with Murray adding that The Government will continue to "monitor the impact of circumvention techniques such as VPNs."

There was an overwhelming consensus from MPs present that a review of the act was the correct approach, not to repeal it. Lewis Atkinson, who introduced the debate and is Labour MP for Sunderland Central, said the law should be enforced "in a robust, effective, and proportionate manner." He added that reforming the Act rather than repealing it was "the realistic route forward."

Julia Lopez said MPs needed to be "honest about the aspects of the law that need to change."

Why are VPNs under fire?

The OSA became law on July 25, 2025, and saw age verification checks implemented on a range of social media platforms and websites hosting content that was deemed harmful to children.

VPNs usage in the UK spiked as a result of people searching for potential ways to bypass age verification.

Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, reported that the daily users of VPNs peaked at over 1.4 million in mid-August 2025. This figure dropped to 900,000 in November but was still above the pre-OSA total of 650,000 daily users.

The OSA has been fiercely debated since the summer. Supporters of the OSA have said bypassing age checks undermines the law and harms children. Critics say the law has a negative impact on personal privacy and creates serious cybersecurity risks.

Whether the UK will crack down on VPN usage remains to be seen. But the OSA, along with Australia's social media ban and age verification in the US, has placed VPNs under the microscope.